Robert Nichols

Visiting Assistant Professor

Office: Morton Hall 327Phone: 757 221 2154Email: [[rjnichols]]

Background

Professor Nichols' research focuses on the legal and social history of classical Athens. In particular, he is interested in the intersections of cultural ideology and public discourse, and thus he examines Attic Oratory and Drama as sophisticated reflections of, and reflections upon, Athenian society. His dissertation, The Rhetoric of Vengeance (timōria) in Athenian Forensic Oratory, is a comprehensive study of the Greek value term timōria invoked by litigants in the law courts of classical Athens (508-322 BCE), and it argues that litigants present timōria self-consciously to navigate social tensions surrounding the pursuit of personal vengeance. Future projects include a book-length study of the practice and rhetoric of vengeance in classical Athens. Professor Nichols received his PhD in Classical Studies in 2013 from Indiana University, Bloomington and has twice been a Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.